Do churches need a marketing plan? I realize even using business language bothers some church people, but personally, I think we need to learn to better market our message. Earlier I posted the need for the church to market like the local grocer does (Read that post HERE), but we also need a comprehensive marketing plan. We are trying to tell people our story about the love of a God they do not know in a way that captures their attention, when many times they don’t even care to listen. Sounds to me like we need a plan.
Here are a few steps to creating a church marketing plan:
Define your target market – Whom are you trying to reach as a church? You can’t reach everyone. Our church will not appeal to some, but we have to know the group of people to whom we will try to appeal.
Learn the market – Once you know whom you are trying to reach, learn everything you can about those people. A church needs to understand the culture, language, interests and desires of the people it is trying to reach.
Identify your competition – You need to know what has the people’s attention you are trying to reach. (Just so I’m clear on this one….it’s not other churches!) This is important because again, they are not necessarily listening and you are competing for their attention against a crowded world of noise and activity.
Plan strategy – The next step is to develop a plan to market yourself to the people you are trying to reach. That could include advertising, social media, websites, etc. For us, our major marketing strategy is our people speaking on our behalf to people they know, but we need to consistently remind them to do so and encourage them to be in the community where the people we are trying to reach are located.
Evaluate your plan – Any good plan includes evaluation. Consider what is working to reach your target market and what isn’t working. Make changes as needed.
Do you have a marketing plan for your church? What would you add to my list above?
Great artical is here
One important thing I want to suggest for the church marketers is to meet people’s needs, connect them with your community, and have them return the following Sunday. This is the first step to help you do just that.
Good idea Thanks!Ron Edmondson
Helpful thoughts. Church marketing is an area that is prone to dangerous trends, but we ought not neglect spreading the Word as effectively as possible. There are some great resources at
http://blog.sharefaith.com/ that can help in this regard.
Thanks for sharing your resources Daniel. I will check them out.
Thanks Julie. I agree, this is a wrestling point for some. I keep going back to the thought that Jesus said, "You will do even greater things than these…" What does that mean? One thought is that we have more tools available to us. Also, Jesus said "Go into all the world and preach the good news". How do we get into all the world, without a plan?
Several years ago I was in Germany at a church talking with a missionary. He said his denomination was basically pulling out of the country and focusing efforts where they could have greater success. The thought occurred to me that McDonald's isn't pulling out of Germany. In every country I have been, McDonald's finds a way to sell hamburgers. They change their marketing plan and alter their menu somewhat, but the bottom line is they find a way to increase sales. What can the church learn from that?
Thanks for commenting so I could dialogue some more!
Joe, I love the SWOT marketing plan also. We have used that as a staff in planning retreats. Good even for the non-engineer types! Look forward to seeing you soon.
I like using SWOT analysis. S-trengths; W-eaknesses; O-pportunities; T-hreats
It is always helpful to ask the question: "How can we reach more people?" and then demand measurements and data to understand if progress is being made.
Of course, it might be helpful to remember that I am an engineer by degree …
Great post again Ron. Personally being a "marketing gal" myself I have wrestled with this concept where churches are concerned. I like the clarity you have given in this discussion.